Sunday, April 5, 2009

Day 4 met us with grey skies, drizzle and cold. On our schedule first was to visit an Aunt's Uncle who lived about a block from our hotel. He is an avid art collector and was so gracious to give us a tour of his condo with details of every piece in his collection. It was, for me, one of the highlights of the trip. Thank you, Joe, for welcoming us into your home! What a treat!

After leaving Joe's, the guys decided that they couldn't leave DC without seeing this:

And of course, this:

And the girls decided to see this:

And this:We were a bit slower getting there, so by the time we made it to the French Impressionists, the guys had already met up with us.

On a side note, look how well coordinated we are in this picture. Even the girl in the background matches. Well done, us.

After experiencing a bit of culture, we hit the International Spy Museum to satisfy Audrie's passion, taking in the sights along the way.

After the spy museum, Audrie's head was overflowing with gadget ideas and secret codes and covert mission operations, so to diffuse some of the excitement we made her walk to see a big house painted white.

Then, we made her walk some more to see the other side.

Future First Family?? I think not. Then, it was back to the hotel for dinner and a quick rest.

The plan was to head back out to catch some of the sights at night. We were told to just stay around the crowds when walking around at night. And that's exactly what we didn't do. Instead, we took the back ways, the deserted streets, the alleys guarded by security. We like to live dangerously.

But, eventually we made it out from behind the buildings to see this (with its monster red eyes):

and this: The Jefferson Memorial was stunning at night, and the city glowed with a pink/orange hue. Definitely worth the risk. :)

We wanted to see the FDR Memorial as well, but it was late, and some of us were very tired.

A quick pic on the elevator back up to our room, and we called it a night.